…..
The day was longer than usual. In fact, a new day had started even before the previous one ended. Or it seemed like that. And Pankaj was both sick and tired. He was having a bad cold – the result of having jumped into the pool for an investigation. Worse, he had been continuously making reports on the last 3 cases they had solved, that all he wanted to do was, go home and rest.
Pankaj was exhausted. He had actually wanted to take the day off. But he knew he wouldn't be allowed to. So he had to actually drag himself to work that morning. He was bored. 'Nothing ever happens here!' he thought to himself. He wanted to have fun. He wanted the others to have fun too and there was only one way to do it. It was in his hands.
'Should I let some of the others in on it?' he debated with himself. 'No', he decided after a thoughtful silence. 'If the others know, they are sure to give it away at some point of time. That will not work'.
It was then that he hit upon a wonderful idea. He was excited and there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Purvi noticed it during the day and wondered what he was up to. She had even gone up to him and asked him about it. 'Why, Nothing at all' he had replied, making his expression as innocent as he possibly could. She was not convinced, but decided to let it be for the time being.
Pankaj waited for the others to finish off their important tasks for the day. Once he was sure that all urgent work had been completed, he decided to put his plan into action. He didn't really want anyone to get into trouble because of him.
…..
Aatishoooooo!
The sound startled every single person in the bureau. The girls, who were sorting out some papers jumped out of their skins and Freddy, who was carrying a bunch of files across to the ACP, dropped the whole lot in fright sending a cloud of dust in all directions.
'Cough..Cough.. What have you done Freddy?', screamed a teary eyed ACP walking out of his cabin. Every other person in the bureau started sneezing as well and Pankaj took the opportunity to sneeze a little extra loudly startling everyone yet again.
'Pankaj, why do you make so much of a noise?' asked Shreya, the irritation clearly evident on her face. 'Lost my voice? No. I haven't. See I can speak and even sing' said Pankaj giving her a very solemn expression. And to establish his innocence, he actually began singing the Humpty Dumpty rhyme in the most horrendous voice possible.
Sachin and Rajat exchanged sidelong glances while Nikhil almost dropped his jaw in amazement. Freddy shut his eyes and covered his ears at the same time, not able to bear the noise. The ACP looked on unable to believe his ears, or even his eyes for that matter. How could someone sing a silly nursery rhyme in the bureau? And that too with him around.
'PANKAJ!' he yelled, stomping his foot on the ground and shaking his fists in the air, as the others looked on horrified.
But no! Pankaj continued to sing loudly – and with actions this time. Knowing that he was in for the ACP's wrath, Rajat nudged him. He stopped his song and turned to look at Rajat with questioning eyes. Rajat was now moving his eyes and nose and mouth and every other muscle on his face trying to make Pankaj shut up. No luck! It didn't look like Pankaj understood. No. Actually, it didn't look like Pankaj wanted to understand at all. 'What Rajat sir?' he asked, rather loudly.
Rajat put his head down trying to suppress his desire to laugh. 'What happened to you Pankaj? Why are you singing in the bureau?' asked Sachin, surprised that anyone can continue to fool around with ACP right behind.
'New road? No. I don't know of any new road' replied Pankaj as the others looked on in surprise. 'There is this old road near my house. It leads to the park besides the beach. I used to play there when I was small with my cousin. You know sir, we loved to sit on the see-saw and play. When my cousin goes up, I go down. Then I go up and she goes down. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down…..' he continued.
'No.. No.. Pankaj. Not new road. I said bureau.. BUREAU' said Sachin almost yelling in exasperation. He looked around at the others helplessly, and they in turn gave him looks of reassurance. The ACP was almost bursting with anger. He wanted to say a lot of things. But the girls managed to escort him to his cabin before he lost it, and Sachin, for the second time around, tried his best to knock some sense into Pankaj's head. Fooling about with ACP sir around? It was something unheard of.
Pankaj seemed to be in his own world. Did he really have a problem with his ears? Or was he just playing the fool. No one could say.
Nikhil however decided to go and get Dr. Salunkhe. 'Forensic or not, he was a doctor and may have some cure for Pankaj's sudden deafness' thought he as he ran across to the lab. It wasn't long before both Dr. Salunkhe and Dr. Tarika walked into the bureau. No sooner than they had entered, the girls went running up to them to inform them of Pankaj's "strange deafness" as they called it.
'You sure he is not faking it?' asked Tarika. 'Positive!' replied Purvi, though quite unsure. 'I doubt if anyone can put on an act for very long with Pradyuman around' put in Dr. Salunkhe turning to look at Pankaj who was now sitting at his desk engrossed in the game of solitaire he was playing. Every other person in the bureau seemed to be confused. They couldn't concentrate on work – there wasn't any serious work anyways. Something had happened to Pankaj, they were sure. But what? That was the question on their minds.
'If only Daya sir was here', said Shreya wistfully. 'Uh.. um.. he would have been able to help Pankaj' she immediately added after noticing the glares from around. 'That's what I am here for Shreya' said Dr. Salunkhe teasingly and Shreya flushed red at the mention of her name. Purvi and Tarika exchanged smiles while the boys nudged one another and giggled. Pankaj was of course, still glued in his game, oblivious to the activity in the bureau.
Walking up to Pankaj and holding him by his shoulder, he asked him slowly and clearly 'Pankaj! What is the matter? Do you have a cold?' 'Gold? No sir. Why would I have gold? My cousin sister has some though. She got it from my grandmother. My grandmother got it from her mother and she….' he went on, unaware of the staring faces. Dr. Salunkhe was taken aback. Although the others had given him a warning, he had never expected it to be this bad.
'PANKAJ!', it was the ACP yelling again as he stormed out of his cabin.
'Arre Pradyuman, just get back inside and don't come out until I tell you to!', said Dr. Salunkhe as he urged his friend back into his cabin and closed the door behind. Thankfully, the ACP did not object for he had no intensions of wasting his time on Pankaj. The doctor heaved a sigh of relief as he turned his attention back to Pankaj who gave a sudden snort of laughter, but smothered it with a cough, just in time.
'Pankaj', he tried again, a little softer this time, 'What is the matter?'
'Fatter?' he asked, visibly annoyed. 'No sir. I haven't become any fatter. In fact, I've lost 4.32 kilos after I joined the CID' he concluded, fairly upset. Nikhil gave a gasp! And so did the doctor. This was too much for Freddy, who collapsed on to his chair in a fit of laughter and the doctor, realizing that he wasn't going to get anything out of Pankaj, shook his head and went off to join Tarika.
Pankaj's condition seemed to be getting worse by the day. And it was up to him to help him. 'I'll be back in sometime' he said as he abruptly left the bureau, Tarika at his heels.
There was something fishy. No one became deaf because of a cold. The boy was up to something. He was sure. But what? He couldn't, for the life of him, imagine. But secretly, he was enjoying it – every bit of it. 'If only Pankaj would tell me what he's up to', he thought to himself smiling. He told Tarika nothing. He wanted to confirm his suspicions before he told her anything.
He decided to keep a watch on him. It was close to lunch time. If he was acting, he was sure to mess up during lunch. Pankaj's love for eating and his undivided attention and concentration for food was a standing joke among the officers. 'So its very unlikely that he will be on guard while he eats. I will catch him red handed then' he decided.
He sat looking at the clock. It was 12:40 pm. Another 20 minutes to go. And then he would know. Why did the time have go so slowly - especially when he was waiting for something? 'Pankaj.. Play all you want to now.. Another 20 minutes, and I will catch you red handed… You can't fool me, Dr. Salunkhe!' he muttered under his breadth as he waited….
A/N: My first attempt at humor. Am I bearable or do I suck at this genre? Should I continue or do I leave it as is? Do let me know.